The Story
Xarel-lo built its reputation buried in Cava blends, but Agusti Torello Roca thinks it deserves better. His Anima Mundi project, named for Plato's soul of the world, is where this longtime Penedes sparkling maker experiments freely, biodynamically farming native Catalan grapes outside the appellation system. Gres (Catalan for sandstone) comes from old vines planted between 1956 and 1974 on chalky, sandstone-laced soils near an 11th-century monastery. Hand-pressed whole-cluster, fermented half in old oak and half in steel, aged on the lees and bottled unfined and unfiltered, it is a still, savory, mineral-driven white that shows just how serious this humble grape can be.
Description
Xarel-lo built its reputation buried in Cava blends, but Agusti Torello Roca thinks it deserves better. His Anima Mundi project, named for Plato's soul of the world, is where this longtime Penedes sparkling maker experiments freely, biodynamically farming native Catalan grapes outside the appellation system. Gres (Catalan for sandstone) comes from old vines planted between 1956 and 1974 on chalky, sandstone-laced soils near an 11th-century monastery. Hand-pressed whole-cluster, fermented half in old oak and half in steel, aged on the lees and bottled unfined and unfiltered, it is a still, savory, mineral-driven white that shows just how serious this humble grape can be.